Matt Dircks, CEO of Bomgar, a secure access solutions company, believes companies must remain vigilant in their cybersecurity practices, he wrote in an op-ed for Information Security Buzz.
Here are his six cybersecurity predictions for the remainder of 2017.
1. Healthcare data breaches will continue to soar. The industry is vulnerable to ransomware attacks, since losing access to files — like patient records — can "cripple the ability to provide services to patients," Mr. Dirck writes. He believes hackers will target healthcare organizations with poor security protocols.
2. Security concerns will contribute to a hospital's decision to enter into a merger or acquisition agreement. "Companies are paying attention to the security issues they may be inheriting when striking a contract with another organization," writes Mr. Dirck.
3. Given the rise in the Internet of Things and organizations increasingly tapping third-party security solutions for certain functions, it is becoming difficult to pinpoint a cyberattack's origin or identify who is to blame for a data breach.
4. Vendors and third parties will remain a hot target for data compromise. Mr. Dircks recommends companies set security policies for all their external groups, to ensure third-party vendors meet the same security standards as their internal protocols.
5. Data breaches on privileged access accounts will continue. "Businesses need to get serious about security around their most privileged users — identifying them, monitoring their access and closing off access to what they don't need," Mr. Dircks writes.
6. Manufacturing is the most at-risk industry for a cyberattack, since its critical infrastructure systems weren't designed with information security in mind, Mr. Dircks says. Therefore, these systems remain most vulnerable, despite ongoing efforts to modernize them.
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